Written by: Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers
Last Updated : December 16, 2022
New Jersey Workplace Accident Attorneys
If you are being denied benefits after being injured in the workplace, the attorneys at Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers are here to help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
When you are injured at work, you should be covered by workers’ compensation, which pays your medical bills and replaces some of your lost wages. Unfortunately, injured workers often get their legitimate claims denied. Frequently, employers charge their workers aren’t covered, because they are independent contractors, or their injury isn’t work related. Without workers’ comp benefits, these workers face severe financial hardship. But even if they get their full workers’ comp benefits, injured workers are not fully compensated; they haven’t gotten full wage replacement and they’ve gotten nothing for their pain and suffering. However, under certain circumstances, there is a way to obtain full compensation.
At Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers our attorneys are devoted to winning full compensation for our clients. If you’ve been denied workers’ comp benefits, we’ll use all our knowledge and skill to appeal that denial, so you can access the benefits you deserve. But we go even further; we thoroughly investigate the circumstances of our injury to determine whether third-party negligence played a role. This is because the law allows you to pursue a negligence lawsuit to recover full personal injury damages, if someone with whom you do not have an employer-employee or co-worker relationship caused an accident that injured you. Fighting for the full range of benefits and your full compensation is something we are passionate about. And our passion produces positive results.
Do I Need A Workplace Accident Lawyer?
While you may be under the impression that legal assistance is unnecessary to pursue a workers’ compensation claim, various issues can arise, however, that make obtaining benefits challenging. Noncompliance with certain filing deadlines and incomplete application forms and medical records are among them.
An experienced workplace accident attorney knows how to validate the initial claim and make sure that it is filed on time so you can start receiving benefits as soon as possible. An attorney will vigorously contest the denial of a claim and handle any disputes over a disability rating. Further, a New Jersey workplace accident lawyer is equipped to perform an independent investigation to determine the cause of the accident and identify each liable party.
As alluded to above, New Jersey’s workers’ compensation laws protect negligent employers and co-workers from lawsuits. It does not protect third parties, however, such as subcontractors, employees of subcontractors, and industrial machinery manufacturers. If any one of those third parties was responsible for the accident that harmed you, the path is clear for you to sue for personal injury damages, and Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers is ready to fight aggressively for you.
A New Jersey workplace accident attorney can negotiate a possible settlement or, when necessary, take your case to trial to seek fair and full compensation.
With that in mind, an insurance company may contact you soon after your accident to offer you a workers’ comp stipulation or a similar lump-sum personal injury settlement to resolve your case. Most likely, this amounts to a low-ball offer that minimizes what the insurer should have to pay out for your physical and financial hardships. Let a dedicated workplace accident lawyer negotiate on your behalf so to make sure you are fully compensated.
Why Choose Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers To Handle My Workplace Accident Case?
Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers has recovered more than $425 million for our clients. We have decades of experience in personal injury litigation.
Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers has been recognized as a best law firm in New Jersey with a tier-1 ranking for personal injury litigation. Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers combines experience and expertise, along with attention to detail, to deliver quality results, while excelling at client care during an exceptionally trying time in your life.
We also handle workplace accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay us nothing until you receive a financial award.
Rate of work injuries in New Jersey and throughout the country
If you have been hurt in a workplace accident, you’re not alone. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, private industry employers throughout the United States reported about 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2016, which occurred at a rate of 2.9 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. This was a significant decrease of about 48,500 workplace injuries from 2015. In New Jersey the rate of nonfatal workplace injuries for 2016 was 3.0 per 100 FTE, just slightly above the national average. But the Garden State saw 101 fatal work injuries in 2016, the leading causes of which were:
- Transportation — 36
- Falls — 26
- Contact with object or equipment — 21
- Violence — 12
- Exposure to harmful substances and environments — 6
The rate of workplace injuries should be a cause of concern for New Jersey workers and employers alike.
The most common workplace injuries
Both workers and employers have a responsibility to help reduce workplace injuries. For this to happen, it helps to understand the major causes of workplace injury, which are:
- Overexertion — These injuries include muscle strain, lower back strain, and strain on the heart from physical activities at work.
- Slipping/tripping – Encountering a slick surface or an impediment on the ground can send an unsuspecting worker crashing painfully to the ground.
- Fall from a height — A fall from one level of a structure to another, as often happens at a construction site, can be deadly.
- Reaction injury — When you slip/trip but don’t fall, you can still injure yourself trying to remain upright.
- Falling objects — This can be an object that falls from a shelf or a tool dropping from a scaffold. The heavier the object and the longer the drop, the more serious the injury.
- Walking into objects — When a worker accidentally bumps into a hard object, such as a wall, door, or table, trauma to the head, foot, knee, and neck are common.
- Vehicle accidents — Whether you drive for business purposes or are present around moving vehicles, the danger is constant and the results can be deadly.
- Machine entanglement — Getting a body part caught in machinery is painful and can result in crush injuries, loss of limb, and shock from blood loss.
- Repetitive motion — Repeating the same task over and over without rest can cause painful inflammation and joint and tissue damage.
- Violence — Assaults in the workplace can cause serious injury and death.
Workplace accidents can cause a wide range of serious injuries and others that could possibly be fatal. Some of the most frequent types of injuries include:
When a worker is tragically killed on the job, the family of that person is usually entitled to wrongful death benefits through workers’ comp. Again, a civil lawsuit is also possible when third parties bear responsibility for what happened.
Together, alert workers and employers can greatly reduce the incidence of workplace injury. Where there is a will, there is a way.